Who Am I?
by RomitriSevione
Summary: Running down a long, winding road I held on tightly to my bag. I turned down the alley and carried on running. A rush of adrenalin throughout my body was the only thing keeping me moving. My arms are aching, my legs are aching and I feel like I'm about to collapse. Hugh...hugh...hugh...I finally managed to catch my breath after running for 20 minuets straight. I have nowhere to go.
1. First Day of School

It had been a week since I arrived in Summerville and, as I made my way through the Richmond High School gates, I saw a bit of Summerville that I had yet to see...SMILES:) Everywhere I turned there are smiling pupils running around and chatting to their mates, there are even TEACHERS SMILING! You'd have never seen that in my old school. I carried on walking up to the big, red entrance only to find that there are security guards and machines looking for guns and other weapons. I tried to get through quick enough for them not to search me, but it was too late. The guard had already put his hand on my shoulder. I was so frightened I turned round and kicked him in the leg. "AWWWWWW" He started hopping on one leg, the surrounding children started laughing, and a teacher came through the doors. "What the hell is going on here?" Shouted a very young, handsome man as he ran across to make sure the guard was alright. "Dave, Dave are you okay? What happened?" Dave, the security guard stood up straight and pointed at me. "She's to blame, she kicked me in the leg for no reason at all." The teacher now had a very stern look on his face. I was about to reply when he put his hand in the air. "Save it and come with me." So I did as he said and me and Dave went off with him... to the head teachers office.

5...4...3...2...1... "Get in here now!" shouted the head teacher. I slouched my way through the door and into the office. Dave was sitting on a couch to the left of the door, the teacher who lead us there was leaning up against the back wall and the head teacher was sitting at his desk frowning. "What do you have to say for yourself?" I folded my arms and stared blank at the head. "GO ON, EXPLAIN!" I had never heard such a sound. "He touched me. I was walking past him and he touched me." Dave stood up about to defend himself. "Where? Where did he touch you?" her hand flew back up at Dave to stop his mouth from opening. "On my arm." I muttered. She laughed and Dave sat back down. "So you kicked him because he touched your arm." I knew that was not a question and therefore I did not answer. "What's your name?" Think, think, I need to think. What was it I decided? "Chlo. Chlo Ryan. It's my first day." I spoke loudly and confidently just like my dad had taught me 2 weeks previously. "Well, Chlo Ryan this is not the best start to your first day, and I didn't know that we had anyone new starting." I pulled out of my bag my papers and school paperwork. While the headmistress flicked through the folder, I glazed out of the window looking upon the school grounds. "Well, Chlo Ryan, I am sure you can start Richmond High School. However, it is the middle of term. I don't know whether now is the best time for you to start." "Please Miss, I'm begging you. I need to start and I need to start now." Miss Bangles searched my face for a clue of what I was talking about. "Why? Why are you so desperate to start now?" Think...think...think. "I'll be too far behind on my school work, and I won't have a clue about what the teachers are going on about. Please." "Rebecca?" a slim, blonde haired girl poker her head around the corner. "Yes Miss Bangles?" "See to it that Chlo has a timetable and is placed in sets she'll feel... comfortable in." "Yes Miss Bangles." And off she went tipping away at her computer. 5 minutes later Rebecca was back and handing Miss Bangles a piece of yellow paper. Miss Bangles rose from her chair, walked over to me, and gave me the paper. It was my new time table. "Come along Chlo and I'll take you to your first class." I did as she said and followed her out of her office and down the corridor until she stopped and knocked on a door. Knock, knock, knock. "Come in." As the door opened there stood a small, dump man standing in front of a desk. "Mr Dean, this is Chlo. She will be in your class from now on." "Oh, right. Well, Chlo if you would like to sit there. Next to Luke." He pointed his finger towards the desk far left at the back. As I walked to my new seat I heard people in the class turn, stare and whisper.

"Hey." Said the boy, Luke, I was sitting next to. He had long, ragged, brown hair and he wore a black leather jacket over his school uniform. "Hi." I replied. He smiled. "Luke Evens." His hand was held out. I shook it and answered "Chlo Ryan." "Okay then class where were we? Oh yes. Who here can tell me what Romeo and Juliet is about?" No one answered Mr Dean. "How about you Chlo?" I looked up. "Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It is among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers. Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. Its plot is based on an Italian tale, translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeo and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1582." Everyone turned and stared at me. "Very good. I take it you have read the book?" Mr Dean asked. "Yeah. I've read it, but I've also seen the film and the performance at the Globe Theatre." I replied. Luke leaned over and whispered, "How'd you know all that?" I looked at him. "Like I said, I've read the book, seen the film and watched the performance." Luke looked confused, "I thought you just made that up." I shook my head, "Nope."

After English I made my way to science. "Hi, I'm Chlo Ryan." The teacher looked up. "Ah yes Chlo. Miss Bangles told me you'll be joining us. I'm Mrs Remand, deputy head." I shook her hand. "Take a seat next to Edman." She pointed at the front desk where there was an empty chair. I sat down. An hour later science was over and I headed to find my locker. Once I found it I opened it up. It was empty. I stuck my books that I'd been given in and went outside. Looking around I sat down under a tree. "Hey." I looked up. It was Luke. "Hi." I smiled as he sat down. "How was science? I heard you have Mrs Remand." "It was good. What about you?" He looked at the ground. "Boring. Hey, I was wondering if you..." "Aw look at that. Luke has a girlfriend." We both turned around to see Edman and four other boys standing there staring. "Bugger off Edman and get yourself a life." Luke said standing up. Edman come closer to him. They were inches apart. "Or what." Edman responded. "Oi!" it was the teacher who took me to Miss Bangle's office earlier this morning. "What's going on here?" He walked over and I stood up. "Ah, Miss Ryan lovely to see you again. Boys what's the issue today?" Edman smirked after saying, "He started it sir." Luke looked at sir, "It wasn't me sir. I didn't do anything." The teacher crossed his arms. "Mr Wheel I'm being serious I didn't do anything. Ask Chlo." Mr Wheel turned and looked at me, "Chlo?" "Luke didn't do anything sir, it was Edman." Edman glared at me, "Sir are you seriously going to believe her? A skiving, little cow who no one even knows anything about." "Leave her out of this." Luke snapped. "Luke, Edman and Chlo. Miss Bangle's office. NOW!"

"Chlo, we meet again." Miss Bangle's looked down at me. "Miss Bangle." I said under my breath. "Twice in one day. And I see this time you have company." I smiled, "Actually I haven't done anything, so I'll be going." I grabbed my bag and began to walk to out the door. "Wait right there young lady." I froze and then turned to face Miss Bangle. "I haven't done anything, so you can't keep me here." "Oh is that what you think." "Looks like your girlfriend has a temper." Edman sniggered. "I'm not his girlfriend!" I snapped. "Blazed." Edman laughed. "Will you just shut your face for 5 minutes?" I shouted to Edman. "Miss Ryan I think you should be quite this instant. Otherwise I might have to rethink about you being place at this school." Miss Bangle's shouted. I shook my head. "No, no please Miss please. I need this school. Please." "Well then sit down and be quite." So I did what Miss Bangle said and sat back down next to Luke. "For the next three days you will ALL be in the cooler. No ifs and NO buts." And with that Luke, Edman and I left the office and made our way to the cooler.


	2. The Hostel

"Hello, my name is Chlo Ryan. I was wondering if there's a spare room." The woman at the front desk of the hostel looked up at me as I started speaking. "Yes there is. But first you have to fill in this form." She handed me a clipboard with a piece of paper on it. I went and sat in one of the chairs near the desk and began to fill the form in.

_Name : Chlo Ryan_

_Age : 16 years old_

_DOB : 14__th__ September_

_Are you still in education? : Yes_

_If 'yes' where do you attend? : __Richmond High School_

_Do you work? : I'm looking for a job_

"There you go." I said handing the woman back the form. "Well there's just the matter of payment to discus then. It's a £50 deposit and £25 a week. Will that be okay?" I nodded handing her the money. Looking at the page she said, "Chlo Ryan let me show you to your room. Oh and by the way, you'll be having a roommate." She stood up and I followed her down the long corridor. The woman stopped at the room labelled '_296'_. She opened the door and I went inside. There was a girl sitting on one of the two beds. "This is Amy Boils, she'll be your roommate while you're with us. Amy this is Chlo Ryan." As the women turned to leave she handed me a key. "Do NOT lose it. If you do you will be paying a £10 fine along with another £10 for a new one." Then she was gone. I looked around the room. Along with the two beds there are two wardrobes, one each, and two bedside tables with draw. Other than that, the room was empty. "Hi. I'm Amy." I shook Amy's hand. "Chlo." Amy looked at me puzzled. "I recognize you. You're the new girl at Richmond High School. We have science together." I smiled and said, "Yeah." We stood there in silence for about a minute before Amy sat back down on her bed. "You can have that bed." She said pointing at the one next to hers. "So how come you're here in a hostel?" I looked at the ground. "If you don't mind I'd really rather not talk about it." "Sorry. I always do that. Rush in asking personal questions." "It's fine." I lied trying to make her feel better. "You can unpack if you want." I completely forgot. I had nothing to unpack other than school books. I sat on my bed. "I have nothing to unpack." Amy tucked her long, blonde hair behind her ear. "Oh. Well, we could go shopping if you like." I smiled. "I'd love to." "Great." Amy said putting her magazine away.


	3. Shopping

10 minutes later Amy and I arrived at the Summerville shopping mall. I went straight to a cash point, typed in the pin my mom had given me when she created the account, and took £100 out. "Wow. That's a lot of money." Amy said staring at my bundle of cash I was stuffing into my purse. "My mom set the account up for me and transferred a couple of hundred pounds in there for me to get by on." We walked away from the cash point and entered the first shop. It was a school shop. "Come on, I'll show you where Richmond High School stuff is." And with that I followed Amy to the back of the shop. In the Richmond High School section there was; blazers, shirts, jumpers, trousers, skirts, ties, socks and shoes. There was also the PE uniform. I ended up buying; 1 blazer, 2 skirts, 2 jumpers, 1 pair of trousers, 7 shirts, a tie, a pack of black socks and a pair of black, dolly's for school shoes. I also brought the PE uniform and white trainers. Next Amy and I went to Primark to get me some casual clothes. I brought; 3 pairs of baggy jeans and 2 pairs of skinny jeans, 2 pairs of trackie bottoms and 2 hoodies to match, 6 strappy tops, 4 shirts, 2 polo tops, 9 t-shirts, 2 dresses, 3 pairs of sandals, a pair of trainers, 2 pairs of high heels, 3 bags(one for school) and 10 matching bra's and knickers.

Amy and I left Primark and walked over to the cafe. As we sat down Amy grabbed her phone out from her bag. "Do you have a phone?" She asked. I shook my head. "My parents don't believe in phones. They say they have ruined the fun of talking." We both burst out laughing. "We could go get you one? A phone that is." "That'll be great. Thanks." We sat and finished our drinks and then went to the phone shop. I picked out a small, black phone with a camera, Bluetooth, WIFI, internet and all the new apps. "That'll be £85 on pay as you go please. Oh and whatever you want to top it up with." I handed the man behind the counter £100. "Thank you." He said taking the money.

Back at the hostel Amy and I unpacked our bags of shopping we had just purchased. "So have you made any friends yet?" Amy asked hanging up her new blue top. "Not really. I met Luke Evens and he seems nice. Oh and I met this tool Edman and thanks to him I'm spending the next 3 days in the cooler." I replied as Amy sat on her bed. "Edman. You mean Edman Reed?" "Yep. Why do you know him?"I looked at Amy. She went quite. "Amy? Are you okay?" And just then Amy burst into tears. Rushing to Amy's side I pulled her into my arms. "It's okay. Amy it's okay." I kept repeating. Once she finally stopped crying I asked her, "What happened?" She looked at me. I could see her mascara running all down her face. "Edman and I dated up until about a month ago. He dumped me and then I found out I was pregnant. My parents found out, made me have an abortion and then kicked me out." "Oh my god, Amy I'm so sorry." Was all I could think to say as I cradled her in my arms.


	4. The Cooler

As I walked into the cooler I could already see Luke sitting on side of the room, and Edman the other. I walked and sat near Luke. He smiled at me so I smiled back. It had only been a couple of hours since I last saw him but it felt like a lifetime. For the hole of first period I sat there, reading Romeo and Juliet which is what we would have been doing if we were in lessons. For second period it was meant to be art. So I sketched out Mr Todd, the teacher supervising us in the cooler. I sketched his long face and his pointed noise, his shaggy hair and his pixie ears. Then when break came he said, "I'm going for a coffee. I'll be back in a minute." And then he was gone. Automatically Luke came and sat next to me. "Wow. That drawing is amazing." He said lifting up my sketch book and looking at my picture of Mr Todd. "Do you think you could draw me?" "Sure." I replied. By the time Mr Todd was back I'd finished my drawing of Luke, but I wouldn't let him see it. "Okay settle down now and get on with your work."

I was so relieved when the end of school bell went. "Oh thank god." I said to Luke as we grabbed our bags and left the cooler. "Hey, Chlo, I was wondering if... I don't know...you want to go grab a coffee?" OMG Luke was asking me out. "OMG Luke yes of course I want to go grab a coffee with you." Is what I was dying to say. However, I said, "Luke I'm sorry I have to go meet Amy then I'm going job hunting. I'd love to, I just don't have time at the minute." His face dropped. "I understand." He said. "Maybe some other time yeahh." I shouted as I walked off to find Amy.

"Please kill me." I moaned walking up to Amy. "Hello to you to. What's up." As we walked back to the hostel I explained about Luke asking me out and me... totally blowing him off. "So why don't you say yes?" She said confused. I looked at her. "It's complicated." No way am I going into this now and especially not with someone I've only just met, I thought. When we got to our room we both got changed and then decided to go grab a coffee. At the coffee shop I saw a sign in the door, _help wanted_. "Hey is this place hiring?" I asked the waitress who was giving us our drinks. "Yep. Why you interested?" "Definitely." I said giving the girl my CV. "Okay well we'll be in touch." She said taking the paper off me. Amy stared at me as the waitress walked away. "Why'd you need a job? I mean you have a bank account." Amy said sipping her coffee. "Yeah I have a bank account that can be traced." I replied. "That bank account is ONLY for emergencies." Amy and I finished our drinks and then went back to the hostel to do our homework.

The next two days in the cooler were pretty much the same; we still did our class work, Mr Todd still went for a coffee at break and Luke still came and sat next to me when he could. However, Luke seamed different. Now whenever I ask him something he gets all defensive. I think it's because I blew him off, but then when I ask him he says it's nothing, just home stuff. I wish I could get him to talk to me, to open up to me. But I can't. Especially not with Edman sitting in the room listening in on our convocations. What do I do?


	5. Luke's Secret

"Morning sunshine." Amy said as I rose from my bed and got myself changed for school. "Is it." I relied. "Look I know your worried about Luke but seriously don't be. I mean Luke Evens can handle himself. He once beet up 7 lads AT ONCE. Besides it's not like he's really the type to talk about his feelings." Amy said. I was confused, "What'd you mean hardly the type to talk about his feelings?" "Well Luke's just one of them mysterious, keeps himself to himself kina guy." "Yeah well whatever kina guy he is, I'm gonna get him to talk."

As Amy and I walked through the school gates I saw Luke sitting under the tree. "I'll catch you late Amy." I said hurrying over to Luke. "Hey Luke." I said with a smile on my face. My face fell as I saw Luke's. He had a black eye and several burses. "OMG Luke what happened to you." I said caressing his face. "It's nothing." "Nothing! You think this is nothing!" "I got into a fight that's all. God you sound like my mom." He said getting to his feet. "Yeah well maybe you should listen to your mom!" "MY MOM'S DEAD!" Luke screamed grabbing his bag. "Look Luke I'm sorry. I didn't know." "Yeah. Well now you do you can run along and laugh about it like everyone else." He began to walk away. "Luke. Wait. People were laughing at you about it." He nodded. "Oh my god that's horrible. Luke I would never laugh at or about you and especially not about something like this." "I know I'm sorry." "You have nothing to apologize for Luke. Let me walk you to class to make up for it." He smiled. "That would be great." As Luke and I walked to class I said, "I'm sorry for blowing you off the other day. So I was wondering, maybe, if you wanted to grab a coffee after school?" Luke's face lit up. "I'd love to."


	6. At The Cafe

"So, Chlo, how are you finding Summerville?" Luke asked at we ordered our coffee's. "Yeah it's good. A lot better than where I use to live." "Good. So where did you used to live?" "Um... London." "Really, wow. I've always wanted to go to London. My mom said she'd take me when I'm older. Guess that's not going to happen now." "Do you miss her?" He looked into my eyes. "Every day. She died 5 years ago today so that's why I'm a bit down today." I held his hand. "You don't have to explain it to me or anyone else." "Thank you Chlo." He leaned into kiss me. I leaned back, away from Luke. "Luke I'm sorry, but I can't." I said twiddling my thumbs. "There's someone else isn't there." I didn't reply. "No it's just... it's complicated." "What can be so complicated that you can't tell me?" I didn't reply. "Well you know what, if you can't tell me then I don't think I can be around you anymore." Luke got up and left before I had the chance to stop him.


	7. Telling Amy

"So what is it what's so complicated that you can't tell Luke, or me?" Amy sat, on the end of my bed, next to me. "I...it's just... complicated." I stuttered. "Chlo please. Talk to me." Amy grasped both my hands. "I can't. I...I don't want to lose you." "Lose me, Chlo what are you talking about? You will never lose me." I looked into Amy's eyes and I knew instantly she was telling the truth. "Okay, but this goes no further. Else I'm in trouble." I drew a deep breath and began my story:

"When my mother was pregnant with me, her and my father lived in Germany. When my mother was 6 months pregnant they found out the baby was a girl, me. But my father was in debt, lots of it. He owed money to a Russian man called Renaldo Devroski. My father couldn't pay the debt and when Renaldo found out he made a deal with my father. The deal was that his eldest son would marry the baby my mother was carrying. So once the deal was made my mother and father moved away to England. It was here I was born and here where I grew up. We all thought that Renaldo would never find us, so my father acted like it never happened. When I was 6 my father raped me for the first time. He carried on raping and abusing me until my brother turned 14. It was then that my father made him do it as well. Nicklaus didn't want to, but he had to. My father carried on making him rape me until Nicklaus didn't need to be told. Until Nicklaus enjoyed it as much as my father did. I was 9 at the time, and even then I knew it was wrong. Anyway it carried on for years until, when I was 13, I found out I was pregnant. I didn't, and still don't, know who the father is. Nicklaus doesn't know. He thinks I went away to boarding school for the year. But really I was locked in the basement giving birth to a baby girl. My baby girl. But my parents could never be so humiliated for me to have a baby at 13, so they told everyone that she their baby girl. Alicia. That's her name. She's only 3. The worst happened at my 14th birthday party. Renaldo's son, Matthew, turned up. He said that Renaldo was dead, but he still wanted to go ahead with the deal. Anyway, he and Nicklaus ended up being good friends and joined the Nazi party, then joined the army. That was the best day of my life. But then, the day after my 16th birthday, I found out that I'm..." I held my belly. "That I'm pregnant. So my mom made me leave. To save me, not from my family, but from Matthew. He and Nicklaus have been kicked out of the army. If Matthew found out I'm pregnant then the deal would be broken and my dad would have to pay over £850,000."


	8. Everything Comes Out

"Don't worry, Chlo. No one here will EVER know what you told me yesterday." Amy said as she and I walked through the school gates. "There's Luke. Do you mind if I go?" "Go!" Amy told me. So I did. I ran over to Luke who was arguing with Edman. "Hey." I said. Luke just looked at me and then back at Edman. "Luke I'm sorry about yesterday. I really didn't mean to upset you." "Upset me. You thing you upset me." "What the HELL are they doing here?" Edman screamed. Luke and I turned around and looked at the gates. There I saw Nicklaus and Matthew, my brother and fiancé. Nicklaus with his dark hair and his Nazi tattoo on show. No way does he look 20 years old. And next to him tall, dark brown haired Matthew. "No...no, no, no, no!" I whispered under my breath. "Why's Nicklaus Santeno here?" I started to cry. Then I ran. I ran as fast as I could round the back of the school. I heard Nicklaus shout, "THERE SHE IS!" as I started to run. Amy saw and realised. She ran to Luke as Nicklaus and Matthew sprinted to catch up. "You need to find Miss Bangles and get her to call the police. NOW!" Amy shouted. "Why?" Luke asked. "BECAUSE CHLO'S IN DANGER!" Amy shouted running to find me.

I fell to the ground and looked up. "Rachel, nice to see you again." Matthew said as I panted. "Matt...Matt...Matthew." I panted and looked to my brother. "Nick...Nick...Nicklaus." "Well, well, well. If it isn't Rachel. Long time no see _sis_." Just at that moment Amy arrived, with Luke behind her. "Nicklaus please. You have to understand." I said. "UNDERSTAND? UNDERSTAND?! OH I UNDERSTAND PERFECTLY THAT YOU ARE A SELFISH LITTLE BRATT WHO DOES NOTHING BUT AVOID HER RESPONSABILITYS!" Nicklaus shouted close to my face. "Oi leave Chlo alone." Luke told him to defend me. "Chlo?" Nicklaus looked confused. "Is that what your calling yourself now? Chlo?" I didn't reply. "ANSWER ME!" he screeched. "Yes." I replied in tears. "I don't understand." Luke looked upset and confused. "Chlo isn't her real name. IS IT!" He screamed at me. I looked at the ground. "ANSWER ME YOU BRATT!" "No." I cried. I looked at Luke. "Luke I'm so sorry. I wanted to tell you but I..." "Get up." Nicklaus told me. I did as he said. "Tell them your real name." He said as Edman and Miss Bangles came running over. "Stay away from Chlo." Miss Bangles told them. "I've called the police." "SHUT UP YOU OLD HAG!" He shouted. "Leave her alone." I blurted out without thinking. "Ohhhhhh look who's talking. Go on tell them. Tell them who you really are. Tell them, and then see if they still want to know you. TELL THEM!" "My...I'm...My name...is...Rachel...Rachel Santeno." I couldn't bear to look at anyone so I stared at the ground. "Now let's go." Nicklaus tried to grab my arm, but I flinched away. "Don't touch me." I whispered. He tried to grab me again, I fell back to stop him from getting me. "Stand up." I didn't move. "STAND UP." He grabbed my arm and pulled me up. "Get off her!" Amy yelled. "Will everybody just shut up." He said getting frustrated. "She told me. She told me EVERYTHING!" Amy replied. "Oh did she now. Well, Rachel, we both know what happens to a grass." He slapped me across the face. "You're lucky it's me and not father." Amy rushed over to me with the others. "Are you okay?" They all asked me. "I...I...I think I'm gonna...gonna..." PUKE! I was sick all over the floor. "Stop being such a wimp." Nick said. "SHES PREGNANT YOU IDIOT!" Amy screamed at his face. "WHO'S IS IT?" He grabbed my arm. "What does it matter. It doesn't change anything." "WHO?!" "DADS! It's dads." "No, that's impossible. No. No. I don't believe you." "If this is true. If this is true then you owe me. YOU OWE ME £850,000!" Matthew yelled. "IT'S NOT. It's not true." Nicklaus replied. "Why is it that you can't believe me? I'm your sister Nick. Why can't you just believe it?" "BECAUSE HE PROMISED! HE PROMISED HE'S STOPPED." "Since when has dad told the truth. He's a known criminal, a drug dealer, a rapist." "SHUT UP!" Nicklaus had me pinned up the wall. Everyone was screaming "Get off her." And "Leave her alone." It wasn't until we heard the police sirens that we realised that Miss Bangles was telling the truth about ringing them. As the police car pulled over on the grass, and two police officers grabbed Matthew, Nicklaus kicked me in the stomach. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!" I yelled and sobbed. When I looked at me hand, I saw blood.


End file.
